In a famous short story, Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges used the word "aleph" (the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet) to mean a point in the time/space continuum that contains all the other points. This definition is not so far off from popular Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho's use of the word and his fantastical rendering of the universe. Like his best-selling 1988 novel THE ALCHEMIST, THE ALEPH draws closely from the author's own life. The main character, also called "Paulo Coelho," finds himself spiritually parched and enervated, and goes on a journey that encompasses several countries, in order to find his faith again. He also reviews the contents of several of his past lifetimes in order to understand the meaning of his current incarnation. On his journey, he meets a young female violinist named Hillal. Through some deep soul-searching he discovers that this is a woman that he also loved--but betrayed--500 years ago in another lifetime. Paulo soon realizes that part of his spiritual quest is in undoing the bad karma generated by his long-ago selfish act. Readers need not literally believe in reincarnation, nor any of the new age philosophies implied by the narrative, in order to deeply enjoy Coelho's engaging and vibrant story-telling.